Apple Explores Push Into Smart Glasses With 'Atlas' User Study

Apple is exploring a push into smart glasses with an internal study of products currently on the market, setting the stage for the company to follow Meta into an increasingly popular category. From a report: The initiative, code-named Atlas, got underway last week and involves gathering feedback from Apple employees on smart glasses, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Additional focus groups are planned for the near future, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work is secret.

The studies are being led by Apple's Product Systems Quality team, part of the hardware engineering division. "Testing and developing products that all can come to love is very important to what we do at Apple," the group wrote in an email to select employees at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California. "This is why we are looking for participants to join us in an upcoming user study with current market smart glasses."

Headset

[stealth_finger]

Whatever happened to their stupid expensive vr/ar headset thing with no purpose? You don't hear much about that anymore. I guess this is just v2.

Already wear glasses thank you

[Mspangler]

Or do they expect me to have my eyes lasered so I don't need glasses so I can wear glasses that will show me advertisements?

This is what I want...

[dark.nebulae]

I don't need full VR, it's not something I would use on a regular basis.

But augmented reality, where maybe it shows me the name of the person I'm talking to, details about them, technical details about things I happen to be talking about, various types of notifications, ... This is the kind of thing I need and would use and would love...

Re:

[kencurry]

This is what Google Glass could have been. Needed much better battery life, and better industrial design to de-nerd it. I was an "explorer" for them or whatever they called it. basically I paid about $1.5k to be a beta tester of device and hardware; got to keep the hardware which is now dead as Jacob Marely.

Re:

[tlhIngan]

But augmented reality, where maybe it shows me the name of the person I'm talking to, details about them, technical details about things I happen to be talking about, various types of notifications, ... This is the kind of thing I need and would use and would love...

Of course, the problem is the necessity for a camera which means you have cameras pointed everywhere and even in places where traditionally you don't want to have a camera.

And with all those cameras comes the surveillance state.

Heck, we have is

Maybe if you make them for glass wearers

[Ecuador]

As someone who's worn glasses since kindergarten, I'd be willing to give "smart glasses" a try. The Raybans actually seemed cool for example - just wear glasses as usual and have camera and speakers integrated. And they were around $300 IIRC, which is sensible.
But they seem to only make them for people who don't *really* need glasses, their limit is like +/- 3 diopters or something silly like that. I *need* my glasses because they are +6, so since I already wear them in order to see I'd be a good candidate

Upcoming ad from Apple

[Chris Mattern]

"Would you kindly buy our smart glasses?"